Side impact events in vehicles have been identified as one of the top priorities for both research and regulation with government requirements continuing to become more stringent. An important element in providing proper support for the pelvic area of a vehicle occupant, the pelvic bolster is provided on the inner side of the door trim substrate adjacent the outer door sheet metal. As in many areas of vehicle development, regulations related to side impact events continue to develop. These regulations often impact the safety of the occupant relative to the pelvic region and accordingly involve the design and construction of the pelvic bolster itself.
Pelvic foam, usually expanded polypropylene (EPP) or polyurethane (PUR), has been typically used as a pelvic bolster for energy absorption upon pelvic contact with the door trim in high speed side collision. The pelvic foam bolster is typically attached to door trim. Plastic devices have also been used in replacing the pelvic foam to achieve the same objective. In either case, a separate piece of parts in each door is used to achieve the function of a pelvic bolster.
While achieving a certain degree of protection to the vehicle occupant, the use of the pelvic foam component is not an optimal response to the requirements. Particularly, the use of the pelvic foam component requires the use of separate components, adding to manufacturing cost and to assembly cost.
Accordingly, as in so many areas of vehicle technology, there is room in the art of vehicle door design for an alternative configuration to known pelvic bolster structures which provides effective protection that can be adapted to a variety of shapes while maintaining relatively low manufacturing and assembly costs.